Jianfu Monastery, Small Wild Goose Pagoda 薦福寺小雁塔

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The Small Wild Goose Pagoda is a 15-story compact eaves (miyan 密檐) brick pagoda. Also known as the Jianfu Monastery Pagoda, it is considered to be a representative example of early compact eaves pagodas in China. Together with the Great Wild Goose Pagoda, it is an important monument preserved from when Chang'an (modern Xi'an) was the capital of the Tang dynasty. The Small Wild Goose Pagoda was built during the reign of Tang dynasty Emperor Zhongzong (r. 705–710). Earthquakes in 1487 and 1556 damaged the upper floors, and its remaining thirteen stories now rise from an 11.38 meter square first level to a height of 43.94 meters. The pagoda stands on a 3.2 meter high square base, measuring 23.38 meters a side. The tower is hollow with a single outer wall. The ground story is the tallest and the height of every story decreases progressively towards the top. Its overall profile is a gentle curve, and eaves are created to distinguish each story through layers of corbelled brick (diese 疊澀) crowned by two rows of "water chestnut" (lingjiao 菱角) shaped triangular brick dentals. The ground story has two arched doors facing south and north respectively and other stories have arched windows on north and south sides. The limestone lintel and doorframes on the ground level are carved with celestials making offerings and foliate patterns. There are small pagodas placed on either side of the arched windows from the 5th to 11th stories. Inside the pagoda each level has a wooden floor which is linked to the others by stairs of brick. Numerous inscriptions from the Tang to Qing dynasties are set into the walls. According to the line drawing carved into a stone stele from 1449, the original finial rose from a round base, and threaded through two-tiers of chattras and a pearl. From 1964-1965, the pagoda underwent extensive repairs and the foundation was excavated.1

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